People Profiles: Dr. Munish Goyal

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Munish Goyal, MD, (Emergency Medicine)

Munish Goyal, MD, (Emergency Medicine) almost decided not to go into medicine. He even briefly changed his undergraduate major from biology to business. That is, until an experience shadowing a retinal surgeon during the AIDS epidemic in Washington, D.C., made a lasting impression on him.

It was 1994 and he wasn’t enjoying his science classes, particularly organic chemistry (a sentiment many pre-med students likely can appreciate). Dr. Goyal’s father reminded him that organic chemistry was not medicine and suggested he spend some time with a physician before making a final decision.

Dr. Goyal began to shadow a retinal surgeon who was seeing patients with AIDS retinopathy at the Whitman-Walter Clinic. “Watching him balance his scientific knowledge with the humanistic component made me realize this is what I want to do. I want to be able to understand the content well enough that I can explain to someone without any medical background what was happening with their body.”

As an attending physician in the Emergency Department at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and a Professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, helping his residents and medical students make these same connections is what he enjoys most in his day to day.

“Highlighting to people why all of the time and energy that they spent in medical school matters – drawing connections real time between that first or second year of medical school pharmacology and physiology and what they’re seeing in front of them – it makes it so much more interesting and more relevant,” he explains.

MedStar Health GME provides a highly unique and interesting place to learn and make those connections, according to Dr. Goyal. Because MedStar Washington Hospital Center sees patients from a large portion of the Washington, D.C., metro area, residents can see and do so much more than they might in another hospital and often have the opportunity to treat conditions that are less common.

Dr. Goyal holds a number of leadership positions at MedStar Health, including Director of the MedStar Medical Student Scholars Program for rising 2nd year Georgetown medical students. He’s also Chair of the MedStar Health Research Institute (MHRI) Institutional Review Board, co-Chair of the MedStar Health P+T Committee, and Director of Faculty Education, Research, and the Section of Critical Care for the emergency medicine service line.

He credits his inspiring mentors, incredible  peers, and supportive wife as the things that have most helped him succeed at MedStar Health. And, at the end of the day, Dr. Goyal just really enjoys medical education.

“I like teaching. I get to be around residents and medical students, and they keep things fresh and interesting.”

Dr. Heather Hartman Hall

People Profiles: Dr. Heather Hartman-Hall

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Dr. Heather Hartman Hall

Heather Hartman-Hall, PhD (Clinical Psychology)

Heather Hartman-Hall, PhD (Clinical Psychology) is a Baltimore Orioles fanatic. She almost never misses a game. As a lifelong Marylander, she’s always rooted for the team but really got into the sport when her son started playing and her daughter picked up softball. Dr. Hartman-Hall brings this same level of commitment and dedication to supporting those she cares about to her work as the Clinical Director of Behavioral Health Initiatives at MedStar Health’s Center for Wellbeing and as an Associate Program Director (APD) for the Internal Medicine residency in Baltimore.

“Our residents and fellows are amazing. I’m inspired by them every day. They’re an incredibly bright, dedicated, energetic group of people who have chosen to take care of people for a living. I feel so lucky to get to work with them,” she said.

As the Clinical Director at the Center for Wellbeing, Dr. Hartman-Hall supports the mental health needs of all MedStar Health associates, but she also serves as a liaison to the graduate medical education (GME) community.

“I work closely with GME leadership to make sure we’re being thoughtful about the particular needs of residents and fellows in our system, both from a mental health perspective, but also by helping them thrive,” Dr. Hartman-Hall said.

MedStar Health has long placed a high priority on supporting and encouraging wellbeing, but the COVID-19 pandemic really brought this work into focus. Thus, the Center for Wellbeing was born. This innovative program provides system-wide wellbeing resources, including a wide variety of offerings outside of strictly mental health support, such as financial wellbeing resources, backup childcare resources, coaching, and more.

“We think of [wellbeing] more holistically,” Dr. Hartman-Hall explained. “How do we create a well workplace? How do we make sure that our interactions with each other support wellness? We want to make sure that MedStar is a healthy place to work, as well as helping you be a healthy person at work.”

This is a mission that MedStar Health takes seriously. Especially for residents and fellows.

“One of the reasons we talk so much about wellbeing in healthcare and especially for physicians, especially for those in medical training, is that healthcare systems have not always done it well. Now we’re the culture of medicine, so MedStar recognizes that we must be an organization that promotes wellness and invests in our shared responsibility for wellbeing and professional fulfillment.”

On a local level, Dr. Hartman-Hall gets to put this work into action during her work as an APD. “It’s rewarding to be there in a moment when our residents need something to feel their best or to encourage them and get to watch them shine as they take care of patients.”

Importantly, Dr. Hartman-Hall knows that her colleagues share this dedication to supporting and caring for the wellbeing of residents and fellows – and each other.

“I’ve never felt like I’m doing this work alone.”

Shout Out! to the MedStar Team!

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Shout Out! to the MedStar Team!

“I want to give a huge Shout Out! to the residents, fellows, attending physicians, nurses, and other associates who worked over the holiday weekend to care for our patients! I spent my Thanksgiving on a shift in the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital ED, and although it’s always tough being away from my family on holidays, the camaraderie among our team was palpable. We were in it, together.”

— Jonathan Davis, MD, Physician Chair, GME

Shout Out! to the MedStar Health Baltimore Surgery residents!

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Shout Out! to the MedStar Health Baltimore Surgery residents!

“The Baltimore Surgery team recently gathered together at my house for our annual holiday party. It was a great chance to get everyone together and spread some holiday cheer. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve this great group as their PD.”
– Maggie Arnold, MD, Program Director

Shout Out! Internal Medicine Residents

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A Shout Out! from Dr. Claudia Georges (PGY-3, Internal Medicine):

This holiday season, the MedStar Health Baltimore family wanted to make it a little brighter for those in need.

The Internal Medicine residents organized a gift donation drive to support The Transformation Center, a local organization that supports rebuilding lives and restoring communities by providing pathways to rise above obstacles of poverty, addiction, poor education, unemployment, and social injustice.

We are truly grateful for everyone who helped us collect more than 50 toys for children ages 0-13, by filling The Transformation Center’s Amazon Wishlist during our holiday party.

I am really thankful for our faculty Dr. Anita Tammara (Wellness Committee Chair), Dr. Andrea Gaspar (Community Outreach Committee Chair) and to our amazing Dr. Heather Hartman-Hall for their tremendous support! And to everyone joined us in this worthy cause (faculty or residents)!

Together, we spread some holiday cheer and made the world a better place.

Happy holidays!

 

People Profiles: Dr. Cassie Libbing

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Cassie Libbing, DO (PGY-3, Internal Medicine)

Cassie Libbing, DO (PGY-3, Internal Medicine) is an advocate at heart. She was drawn to medicine because she wanted to be a good advocate for her patients and now at MedStar Health, she has stepped forward to be an advocate for her peers through her work as a Wellness Champion.

During medical school in her home state of Indiana, Dr. Libbing fell in love with the intellectual challenge of solving the varied diagnostic dilemmas that come with practicing Internal Medicine. She is also passionate about giving her patients tools to care for their health.

“We have medically complex patients, that’s our specialty, and it’s very important to me that my patients understand their diseases, ultimately empowering them with information so that they can make the best decisions for their health and take care of themselves,” she said.

This is especially important, Dr. Libbing said, because many of their patients do not have extensive experience with the healthcare system. The first physician a patient interacts with can have an immense impact on that patient’s trust in the healthcare system. “It’s easy to forget with the day-to-day work, but it’s an important role we carry,” Dr. Libbing said.

Dr. Libbing is also involved in fostering wellness among her colleagues. During her second year of residency at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital (MGUH), Dr. Libbing applied for, and received, a Wellness Champion Grant from the Center for Wellbeing to establish a dedicated Wellness Committee for the almost 90 Internal Medicine residents at MGUH.

“During that year, I was able to delve more into wellness research and learn more about what has been evolving with physician and resident wellness research in the past five years. A lot of it is moving past this idea of personal resilience and more towards seeking institutional interventions that can drive professional fulfillment and a sense of community,” she explained.

Now, with a second Wellness Champion grant, Dr. Libbing is building on her wellness work by utilizing a tool developed at Yale – the Residency Community Well-Being instrument – to track and evaluate resident wellness throughout the year. Anonymous surveys will help Dr. Libbing determine if wellness or professional fulfillment rises and lowers depending on the season, post-graduate year, specialty track, gender, or a number of other factors.

The tools that MedStar Health GME offers due to its status as a nationally-leading consortium – such as access to grants or statistical support from the MedStar Health Research Institute – is one contributing factor to Dr. Libbing’s success. That, plus the incredible community she has found at MedStar Health.

“There are so many great people who surround me and keep me going. Community is so important for wellness,” Dr. Libbing said. She advised her colleagues to find a mentor and never hesitate to ask for support.

Dr. Libbing also turns to her fiancé, an anesthesiology resident at MedStar Health, to stay grounded. But sometimes ice cream from Jeni’s Splendid or Van Leeuwen is just what the doctor ordered.

“I am an ice cream connoisseur,” she said. “I love ice cream. It’s the easiest way to make me smile.”

Dr. Maggie Arnold

People Profiles: Dr. Maggie Arnold

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Dr. Maggie Arnold

Maggie Arnold, MD (Vascular Surgery)

Maggie Arnold, MD (Vascular Surgery) has always been fascinated by anatomy. That’s what first interested her in medicine.

“I was drawn to the scientific inquiry part of medicine. Humans are amazing creatures, and I wanted to understand more about how our bodies worked,” she said.

Dr. Arnold is double board-certified in General Surgery and Vascular Surgery, but she did not always want to be a surgeon. Once she stepped into the operating room, however, she knew she loved surgery. “I loved the immediacy of it. I loved being able to fix things. Just being in the operating room was amazing,” Dr. Arnold said.

She was drawn to Vascular Surgery due to the fantastic surgeons she trained under, the interesting caseload, and the great patient population she treated.

As the Program Director for the General Surgery residency program in Baltimore, Dr. Arnold is now filling that mentor and educator role for MedStar Health residents.

“I have such a great job because I get to watch my residents start as interns and then go through an amazing transformation over the next five years as they become surgeons,” she said. “I love being able to work with people, troubleshoot problems, and help them grow as physicians.”

The current generation of physicians-in-training are mission-driven to help people, giving Dr. Arnold incredible hope for the future of medicine. “I see a profound sense of altruism in up-and-coming physicians,” she explained.

In addition to serving as a Program Director, Dr. Arnold is one of three inaugural GME Leadership Fellows. She is working with the GME Executive Team to further improve the training and educational experience at MedStar Health. But her voice is just one of many – and the collaborative nature of MedStar Health GME allows our program to leverage the diverse expertise of our faculty to better serve our residents and fellows.

“You have this great network at MedStar Health and wealth of knowledge with people coming together to solve problems that affect all GME. You also get the benefit of different perspectives. I may have a very surgery-centered perspective, but that may not always be the best solution to the problem,” Dr. Arnold explained. “It allows you to hear other opinions, voices, and perspectives and helps us be stronger, together.”

When Dr. Arnold is not in the operating room or working with her residents, she’s training for her next marathon or spending time with her husband, two kids, and pet Lab, Sunny.